Gas network already at maximum capacity as cold snap hits

By Paul Homewood

h/t Phil Bratby/Ian Magness

Britain’s gas network has already hit full capacity as renewable energy fails to generate the power needed to heat the UK’s homes.

Freezing temperatures mean energy demands have soared in recent days, but low winds mean output at wind farms has plunged, according to data from National Gas and National Grid, making the UK reliant on gas for up to two-thirds of its electricity this weekend.

However, Jon Butterworth, chief executive of National Gas, said demand from gas-fired power stations would be “maxed out” from today through much of the weekend.

He said the weather event should be a reminder of the importance of fossil fuels as to global policymakers attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

Mr Butterworth said: “It’s really important they recognise that although we’ve got to decarbonize, energy security is also vital. And when you’re in a world of interruptible renewable energy, our security is massively important.

The more we build up our reliance on wind and solar power, which can be disrupted by the weather, the worse the risk becomes.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/11/30/gas-network-maximum-capacity-cold-snap-hits/

And it’s barely December yet!

Of course, contrary to what Mr Butterworth says, we don’t have to decarbonise at all!

The frightening reality is that without substantial imports of electricity from Europe, our grid would already have collapsed today:

https://grid.iamkate.com/

As I often say, double nothing is still nothing!

When wind and solar power are producing negligible power, it does not matter how many wind and solar farms you build.

And I would not bank on imports from Europe to prevent catastrophic blackouts.

In Germany today, for instance, wind and solar have been supplying no more then 5% of the country’s electricity for most of today. In the early evening tonight, coal and gas have were supplying three quarters of their power: